


I'll Take You For a Ride

by FirefliesandStardust



Category: The Boyz (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst, Anyways, Bullying, But Not Much, Chanhee is sassy af, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff, It is now, M/M, Sunwoo is very gay and very angry, Underage Drinking, anyways ill probably add tags as i go, at everything, but there are some descriptions, but they'll be there - Freeform, childhood enemies, im not sure how much the others will appear, it's mild, just a lil bit, might even put hyunjun i miss my baby, probably, so be careful you guys, they're both stupid, why is childhood enemies not a tag
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 01:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 15,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29463615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FirefliesandStardust/pseuds/FirefliesandStardust
Summary: Sunwoo and Chanhee have known each other since they were kids and Chanhee's family moved to the house in front of Sunwoo's. Their parents love each other and their little sisters are best friends. But Sunwoo can't stand Chanhee and he's pretty sure his hatred is reciprocated. When Chanhee and his family move to a different neighborhood, Sunwoo figures he'll finally have some peace. But really, why did he ever think he would get a break?
Relationships: Choi Chanhee | New/Kim Sunwoo
Comments: 21
Kudos: 111





	1. Chapter 1

Sunwoo sighed, waiting for his sister to finish getting ready so they could just leave already. He had no idea why his mom thought it was a good idea to get him to take Jiwoo to the cinema to meet her friend. Why couldn't she just do it herself? Sunwoo didn't have a car, and even if he did have one he still couldn't drive, so either way they would have to take a bus to get to the cinema. Wasn't it much easier for his mom to take her there by car? It was a ten-minute ride. But of course, then she would have to wait for the girls to be done, and then take them to eat, and that would mean wasting her oh so precious time. It was much easier to send Sunwoo, and it had the added bonus of his parents not having to put up with his presence. Then again, he wouldn't even be there if his mother hadn't told him he would be the one taking his sister to the cinema. He never stayed home during the weekends.

"Jiwoo, for all that's sacred in this world, why are you taking so long?"

His mother sent him an angry glare as he shouted. He ignored her. At the end of the hallway the bathroom door opened and his sister's head peeked out. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"If you didn't dress like someone who only has one outfit, then you would understand."

Sunwoo sighed again, leaning against the wall.

"Well, don't blame me when you miss half of the movie from being late."

Jiwoo rolled her eyes and closed the bathroom door again. It was then another ten minutes before she was ready. Sunwoo snorted at her bright pink sparkly jacket, which was covering a bright purple dress. The outfit was complete with a sparkly pair of sandals.

"What?" his sister asked as he stared at her.

"Is Sohee's sight so bad she won't see you if you don't look like a walking neon sign?"

Jiwoo looked unamused.

"Gotta make up for the fact that you suck out all of the light in the room." Sunwoo stuck his tongue out at her. "Let's go, I don't wanna be late."

Sunwoo only snorted, following his sister outside. Jiwoo bid their mom goodbye. Sunwoo didn't.

Jiwoo talked the whole way to the bus stop, and didn't stop as they took the bus and rode to the shopping centre. Sunwoo let her. Jiwoo liked talking and he didn't mind listening. Plus, his sister didn't need his input, she could keep going on her own for hours, so that gave Sunwoo the benefit of tuning her out and paying only five percent attention without her noticing.

With Jiwoo talking and his mind wandering, the trip was quick, and soon they were standing near the ticket line at the cinema, waiting for Sohee.

"See, we still have half an hour before the movie."

Sunwoo rolled his eyes.

"Maybe if you had told me at what time the movie started-"

"Sohee!"

Sunwoo muttered to himself about disrespectful little sisters, and then followed Jiwoo, who was running towards her best friend. It was only when he was almost next to them that he noticed something. The person accompanying Sohee wasn't her mother or father. It was… 

"Sunwoo. Long time no see."

Sunwoo grimaced.

"Chanhee."

"That's Chanhee hyung, to you."

Sunwoo snorted. He had never called Chanhee 'hyung', he wasn't about to start now.

"What are you doing here?"

Chanhee raised an eyebrow. Sunwoo noticed the boy now had an eyebrow piercing and fought to not let his mouth fall open in surprise. He took in Chanhee's full outfit. The boy was wearing ripped skinny jeans and boots with heels. His white shirt was covered by a leather jacket, and his hair was pink. Well, the hair wasn't part of the outfit, but…

"Sunwoo oppa!" Came Jiwoo's voice. Sunwoo blinked and noticed Chanhee was smirking and the two girls next to him were giggling.

"What?" he asked defensively, feeling his cheeks heat up.

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," said Chanhee, a smug look on his eyes. Sunwoo wanted to punch it out of his face.

"I was just wondering why is it that your hair looks just like my little sister's jacket. It looks bad on you."

Chanhee hummed, still smiling.

"Sure. And just so you know, I came to bring Sohee. Since you clearly didn't hear when I told you the first time." Sunwoo rolled his eyes. "And now I'll get going. Sohee, call me when you want me to pick you up, ok?"

As soon as the words registered, Sunwoo choked. "Wait, what?"

Chanhee raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean, what?"

"You're going to leave your thirteen-year-old sister all alone here?"

Chanhee snorted. "Uhn, no? I'm gonna leave her with you."

At that Sunwoo let out a loud cackle, before noticing he was too loud and feeling his cheeks heat up again.

"Ok, funny joke."

"It wasn't a joke."

"You're _not_ leaving me alone with them."

Chanhee stared at him for a second, then smirked. "Awn, Sunwoo. If you wanted my company all you had to do was ask!"

Sunwoo glared.

"The last thing I want is your company, Chanhee, but I'm not going to be responsible for the two of them and I'm not going to stay here like an idiot waiting for them while you go out and have fun."

The two of them stared at each other. Chanhee's gaze was intense, but Sunwoo refused to look away. And then Sohee spoke up.

"Uhn, can the two of you solve this little fight quickly? We need to buy our tickets."

Chanhee huffed and rolled his eyes. "Go on. We'll be here when you come back."

The two girls squealed and rushed off, and Sunwoo smirked. At least this fight he had won.

"You look way too happy for someone who'll have to spend the whole afternoon with a person they hate. Anything you wanna tell me?"

Sunwoo completely ignored the boy. "I'm going to buy their popcorn."

"Sohee likes caramel popcorn!" called Chanhee.

Sunwoo pondered not buying it, but Sohee had nothing to do with how much of an ass her brother was, so Sunwoo sighed and waited in line to buy one salt and one caramel popcorn.

Once the girls' session started, Sunwoo and Chanhee were left alone, and Sunwoo immediately regretted insisting the older stay with him. Now they had two hours or something to do literally nothing while they waited, and Sunwoo seriously considered just leaving and only coming back when the movie ended. But of course it wouldn't be that easy. As soon as the girls were in Chanhee turned to look at him.

"So. How have you been doing?"

Sunwoo snorted. "Oh no, we're not doing this."

Chanhee rolled his eyes. "I'm just being polite. We haven't seen each other in almost a year."

Sunwoo looked at him. Chanhee was smiling innocently, but Sunwoo knew the older was teasing him.

"Oh, so now you want to talk to a baby?"

Chanhee shook his head, laughing. "I can't believe you're still offended about that. I was eight, Sunwoo. You were six. To me, you were a baby."

Sunwoo hummed. "Well, the difference is still the same, so."

Chanhee huffed. "You're so difficult. Come on, let's go sit down somewhere."

Sunwoo sighed. With one last look to the bus stop he followed Chanhee into the shopping centre. He knew after his little stunt of not letting Chanhee leave the older wouldn't let him leave, either, so he kissed his freedom goodbye and just resigned himself to his fate.

The two of them ended up sitting on a bench in front of a candy shop, and the sweet smell made Sunwoo a bit sick, but it was the only empty spot that wasn't inside a restaurant, so he accepted it. It was noisy around them, with people talking and kids screaming, and Sunwoo felt overwhelmed, but he said nothing. Chanhee was focused on his phone, smiling to himself, and he seemed at ease. Sunwoo wasn't going to give him the pleasure of knowing he was uncomfortable. He picked up his phone and opened a game, trying his best to tune out everything around him.

Sunwoo didn't get to play for long before he noticed Chanhee looking up from his phone and eyeing him. He chose to ignore it. Chanhee, unfortunately, had other plans.

"What are you playing?" he asked. Sunwoo snorted.

"None of your business."

Chanhee didn't seem to mind the rude reply. "Is it a free game? It looks fun."

Sunwoo paused his game and looked at the older. "What do you want?"

Chanhee raised an eyebrow. "We have at least an hour and a half to kill. Figured we might as well talk."

Sunwoo chuckled. "Yeah, no, thanks. I'm good."

He pressed play in his game. By his side, Chanhee sighed, and then picked his phone back up, and a moment later he was smiling again. It made Sunwoo angry, for whatever reason. Maybe it was because Chanhee had a stupid smile on his face and he typed something, clearly chatting with someone over the phone, and Sunwoo couldn't understand what about talking someone was so fun that it justified that smile. A little voice inside Sunwoo's head told him he only felt like that because _he_ had no one to talk to. He ignored the voice.

So for the remainder of the time Sunwoo played games and watched people passing by, until he finally got a message from his sister, saying they were leaving the cinema.

"Finally," he muttered.

"Hm?" asked Chanhee, looking up for the first time since their disaster conversation.

"They're done. Let's go."

The way Chanhee eyed him as he stood up made Sunwoo uneasy, but he pushed the feeling back. Chanhee stood up as well and the two of them headed to the cinema to pick the girls up.

They didn't talk to each other, but Sunwoo could feel Chanhee's eyes on him the whole time. It made him feel weird, watched. He hated it. So much that when he spotted Sohee and his sister he almost smiled in relief.

"Was the movie good?" asked Chanhee as they approached the girls.

Jiwoo squealed and nodded, and then started narrating the movie in detail, with small comments from Sohee from time to time. Sunwoo noticed, as the girls talked, that Chanhee was taking them… somewhere. But his sister didn't seem to even be breathing as she spoke, so Sunwoo didn't get the chance to ask where, exactly, they were going.

He found out a while later, when Chanhee stopped by a burger place. Sunwoo frowned. What were they doing there?

"Jiwoo, hey. You can keep talking in a second, but choose what you want to eat first so I can go order."

Jiwoo looked up at the sign indicating the restaurant's name and smiled. She told Chanhee her order as if she was used to doing this, and Sohee did the same. Sunwoo was even more confused now. And then he noticed Chanhee was looking at him. He understood, a moment too late, that the older was waiting for his order.

"I, uhn, I'll have the same as Jiwoo."

His sister sent him a confused look, a little smile on her lips as if she thought Sunwoo was going crazy. Chanhee nodded.

"You three can go sit, I'll order everything."

Sunwoo thought of protesting that he was not a little kid who needed Chanhee to order food for him. Then he remembered his nearly empty wallet and internally shrugged. At least he would get free food.

Once he sat down with the girls, Jiwoo spoke up.

"Oppa, why did you order the same as me?"

Sunwoo raised an eyebrow.

"Are you the only one who can order that? And how the hell did you know what to order without even looking at the options?"

Jiwoo pressed her lips into a thin line, as if trying not to laugh.

"Chanhee oppa always brings us here, we know our orders." Wait, Chanhee had taken them to the cinema before? "I always get the bacon burger."

Oh god. Sunwoo hated bacon. Fuck. Looking at Sohee, who was watching them in confusion, Sunwoo faked a smile.

"Great order."

Jiwoo looked at him with a smile still playing on her lips, then nodded. "Sure is."

And went back to talking about the movie.

When Chanhee arrived with their food, Sohee and Jiwoo started eating as if they were starved. Sunwoo, on the other hand, eyed his burger for a long time, before sighing and lifting the top bread up. He tried to be subtle as he pushed the bacon out. It was useless, though. Chanhee obviously noticed, and looked at him as if Sunwoo had gone crazy, the same look Jiwoo had given him earlier.

"What are you doing?"

Sunwoo bit on his cheek. "Taking the bacon off."

"Why?"

"Because I don't like bacon."

Sunwoo could feel his sister holding back her laughter and hear Sohee giggling.

"You don't… why did you order a bacon burger if you don't…?"

"Will you leave me alone?" he said, the embarrassment making him even more rude than usual.

Chanhee looked at him for a moment, then shrugged. "Whatever suits you, Sunwoo."

Sunwoo huffed and went back to picking the bacon out, before putting the bread back in place and taking a bite out of his burger. He was _never_ going to take Jiwoo out again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! Did you like this chapter? Tell me in the comments!
> 
> Have a nice day!


	2. Chapter 2

"Thank you, mom. Love you!"

Sunwoo raised an eyebrow. By Jiwoo's tone she had managed to convince their mother to let her sleep over at Sohee's house. As he expected, his phone vibrated indicating a new message had arrived. Sunwoo picked up his phone. With the usual sweetness she reserved just for him - note the sarcasm - his mother had told him to take his sister to Sohee's house and make sure she arrived well and that Sohee's parents really were ok with her staying over. Sunwoo replied with a simple 'ok' and put his phone away.

"You're so spoiled," he said, nudging his sister forward, towards Chanhee and Sohee.

"Maybe if you tried to be nice…"

Sunwoo snorted. Jiwoo had no idea why he and their parents had fought, why was it that for the last year or so their parents had been treating Sunwoo as if he was an unwelcome guest and Sunwoo seemed to reciprocate the feeling. And he didn't want her to know. It was better like this, because even if his parents hated his guts he still had his sister on his side. He didn't want to lose her too.

"Let's go. They're waiting for us."

Jiwoo sighed. It wasn't the first time she tried to get to the bottom of his fight with their parents. But Sunwoo wouldn't tell, and he knew she wouldn't push. Much.

"Are you going to leave, now?" She asked instead.

"And let that ass take care of you? No way. I'm only leaving once you're at Sohee's."

Jiwoo snorted.

"You two are ridiculous, did you know that? Why do you even hate each other? It makes no sense."

Sunwoo rolled his eyes.

"That's for me to know and for you and Sohee to gossip about, Jiwoo."

He could see the girl had something else to say, but he never found out what that was, because right then they reached Chanhee and Sohee, and the girl looked at Jiwoo with hopeful eyes.

"So?"

Jiwoo smiled. "She said eyes!"

The two girls squealed, and Sunwoo rolled his eyes, trying - and failing - not to let a smile show on his face. He loved Jiwoo, she was the only person in his life whom he truly cared about. Seeing her happy made him happy.

"Oh, so you _are_ capable of smiling."

And with that Sunwoo's smile was gone. "How are we going to your house?"

Chanhee chuckled. "Bus."

Of course.

The four of them made their way to the bus stop, Sohee and Jiwoo talking and giggling and Sunwoo trying to figure out if it would be worse to spend a whole bus trip sitting next to Chanhee or to sit on another seat, risking missing the bus stop, since he didn't know where Chanhee lived. His thoughts were interrupted as their bus arrived, and then he noticed all his worrying had been useless. The bus was crowded. There was no place for them to sit.

Chanhee went in first, while Sunwoo was seriously considering grabbing his sister and taking a taxi. He hated crowds, especially on public transport. But he couldn't leave now, he had already entered the bus, and Jiwoo was already pressing her bus card against the charging machine. Fuck. Sunwoo entered after Sohee, following the girls to where, apparently, Chanhee had gone.

They ended up near the last seats on the bus. Chanhee was standing there, seeming unbothered, and the girls quickly made themselves comfortable, pressed against each other and still giggling and talking. Which left Sunwoo, unfortunately, next to Chanhee. Not just that. He was _pressed_ against Chanhee, and Sunwoo's brain helpfully supplied that he was shorter than Chanhee, his nose in line with Chanhee's chin, and that that would be the perfect height to… 

Sunwoo shook his head, stopping that thought right there. Then the bus started moving, making Sunwoo aware of the fact that he wasn't holding onto anything by making him stumble and fall against Chanhee. Probably on instinct - Sunwoo was sure otherwise Chanhee would have let him fall - the older boy held onto him, his hand gripping Sunwoo's waist way too tight. Sunwoo felt his face starting to burn as he straightened up, clearing his throat.

Chanhee chuckled. "A 'thank you' would be nice, you know?"

Sunwoo ignored him.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, and Sunwoo sighed in relief as fifteen minutes later Chanhee signaled for the bus to stop and they finally got down.

Chanhee's house was close to the bus stop. They had to walk less than ten minutes. It was also fairly close to Sunwoo's house, though that would probably be a forty-minute walk by feet. When Chanhee opened the door, Sunwoo held his sister's shoulders.

"Hey. Behave, ok? Don't let them know mom and dad raised you to be a cavegirl."

Jiwoo rolled her eyes at him, but she was smiling. "I'll think about it."

"Love you," he whispered. Jiwoo smiled and gave him a hug before rushing into the house after Sohee.

Sunwoo sighed, ready to leave, and then his eyes caught Chanhee. Who was still standing by the door, and was looking at him with a weird expression.

"What?" he asked.

Chanhee shook his head. "Nothing. Wanna come in?"

"And spend more time with you? No, thanks."

Chanhee rolled his eyes. "You're so… do you know how to get home?"

Sunwoo frowned. "I can take care of myself, you know?"

Chanhee threw his hands up, huffing. "Ok, Sunwoo. Bye."

And with that he closed the door. Sunwoo smirked to himself. Annoying people into leaving him alone was his specialty.

He moved away from the house, wondering about how he would spend the rest of his afternoon. Usually he just hung out at the park near his house, waiting until he was sure his parents were asleep to go back home. It was now six in the afternoon. If he took the bus he would have to spend about five or six hours at the park. Usually he didn't care, but he hadn't brought his sketchbook or the book he was currently reading, so he was kind of dreading those long hours. If he walked - slowly - it would mean less time looking like a weirdo at the park. If… 

Sunwoo stopped as he noticed he was walking through a grass field. He looked around. Oh. He was in a public playground. It was completely empty. His brain started thinking again. If he stayed there and then walked home later he wouldn't look like a weirdo - well, he would, but the playground was empty so no one would see him being a weirdo - and would still be able to get home late. Making a decision, Sunwoo headed to the swings and picked up his phone.

Sunwoo was going through a kitten thread on twitter when a motorcycle noise startled him. He had spent about… two hours? at the playground already, and so far there had been no noise around, other than the occasional bus in the distance. He looked around, easily spotting the motorcycle, and then followed it with his eyes, because yes, he was _that_ bored. And then the motorcycle stopped by the playground and Sunwoo tensed. The person got out of the motorcycle and Sunwoo prepared himself. If that person so much as moved in his direction he would run to Chanhee's house, his pride be damned. He wasn't in the mood to be robbed.

And then the person took off the helmet, and…

"Sunwoo?"

Of course. Of course it was Chanhee, because Sunwoo was that lucky. In the back of his mind, he quietly freaked out about the fact that Chanhee rode a motorcycle, what the fuck?

When Sunwoo didn't reply, Chanhee started walking towards him, and Sunwoo considered following his previous plan and running to Chanhee's house. The plan sounded even better now that Chanhee _wasn't_ in his house. Instead, Sunwoo stayed put.

"Hey. What are you still doing here?"

Chanhee was standing in front of him, and he looked so tall, because he was standing while Sunwoo was sitting down. It made Sunwoo feel weird. Sunwoo considered not answering, but decided against it.

"This is a public space, you know?"

The way his voice shook probably took a lot of edge from what he had just said. Chanhee was looking at him as if he was trying to understand Sunwoo's inner workings. The thought made Sunwoo want to laugh.

"Why haven't you gone home?"

And now they were heading to dangerous grounds. "Didn't feel like it."

Chanhee stared at him. Sunwoo stared at Chanhee. Then the older sighed and offered a hand.

"Come on."

Sunwoo frowned. "What?"

"I was going out to meet my friends. Come along."

Sunwoo didn't mean to burst out laughing, he really didn't, but the idea was ridiculous.

They had been fighting for _years_ , since the day they met. And now Chanhee was asking Sunwoo to hang out with him? And his friends? After ten years of disagreements? Sunwoo really didn't think he could be blamed for laughing.

"Ok, good joke. Better hurry, it's not polite to leave your friends waiting." Chanhee didn't move. His hand continued outstretched. Sunwoo stared. "Chanhee, what the hell?"

Chanhee sighed, retreating his hand.

"Dude, it's saturday. And you're all alone in an empty playground. I'm pretty sure you'll have a lot more fun if you come with me than if you stay here getting eaten by mosquitos all night. Come on, you won't even have to talk to me, you can talk to the other guys."

Sunwoo stared for a moment longer, then sighed and stood up.

"You're taking me home after this."

Chanhee _giggled_. "Of course, I'm a gentleman."

Sunwoo considered sitting back down. What was he doing? He was _fine_ with hanging out in the playground. Why the fuck was he agreeing to going out with Chanhee and a bunch of people he didn't know but who were probably as annoying as Chanhee? Not that Sunwoo didn't know the reason. The little voice in his head was laughing at him for being weak. But Sunwoo didn't want to think about any of that right now, he already felt sick as it was.

"Let's just go before I change my mind."

Chanhee chuckled and led Sunwoo to his motorcycle. Sunwoo put on the helmet Chanhee offered and then noticed there was a big, big flaw in this whole thing.

"Sunwoo?" asked the older, who was already sitting on the motorcycle. The tiny motorcycle.

Sunwoo looked at the space left for him. Oh god.

"Where…?"

Chanhee laughed again, and Sunwoo was starting to get tired of the boy laughing at him all the time.

"Just sit behind me, Sunwoo, come on."

Sunwoo gritted his teeth and obeyed. It would be weirder if he denied. He was glad he was wearing a helmet, because he was sure his whole face had turned crimson. There really was very little space on the motorcycle, and his front was pressed flush against Chanhee's back, to the point that Sunwoo could feel Chanhee breathing, and…

"Are we going or not, dude?"

Chanhee huffed and started the engine. "You need to hold on tighter than that, or else you'll fall."

Sunwoo resisted the urge to whine. His hands were on Chanhee's shoulders, loosely holding them. He gripped tighter.

"Can we go now?"

Chanhee shook his head, then reached for Sunwoo's hands and moved them from his shoulder to his waist and Sunwoo found out that yes, he could blush more than he already was. If someone took his helmet off now they would probably mistake him for a tomato.

"There you go."

And without further warning he sped up. Sunwoo did not scream. And he also didn't hug Chanhee in surprise. Nope. Not at all. He felt Chanhee's shoulders shaking. Probably from laughter. Asshole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for everyone who left kudos on the first chapter!!! (and the one comment too <3)
> 
> Hope you guys liked this chapter, comments and kudos are always appreciated, and if you wanna be friends feel free to follow me on twitter (https://twitter.com/tinyjuji)!


	3. Chapter 3

Sunwoo eyed the restaurant suspiciously. Or… well, the establishment. Because that couldn't be called a restaurant. It looked like a cross between a bar and a fast food restaurant, with a neon sign flashing the name.

"You don't look impressed."

"You eat food made in this place?"

Chanhee laughed, as if Sunwoo had something actually funny. "Their fries are surprisingly good. And the alcohol is cheap."

Sunwoo frowned. "Dude, you're driving."

"I'm not gonna drink, Sunwoo. I take the bus when I want to get wasted. Now let's go, I can see the guys in there already."

Not for the first time, Sunwoo considered leaving. That seemed to be the trend for the day. But Sunwoo had no idea where he was, he hadn't paid attention to where Chanhee was taking him, too focused on the adrenaline of his first motorcycle ride. So he couldn't go back even if he wanted to.

"You coming?"

Sunwoo internally hit himself for making poor life choices and followed Chanhee.

For all that the outside looked shabby and shady, the place was actually pretty organized inside. It did smell like oily food and booze, but the floor wasn't sticky like Sunwoo assumed it would be, and the tables looked clean enough. There were… many types of people there. Sunwoo spotted some girls who seemed to be school-aged teens, laughing on a nearby table; then he saw a group of at least six people, all of them with piercings and tattoos, except for a boy who was wearing pastel-colored clothes and had the softest features Sunwoo had ever seen. He looked so out of place in that group, but at the same time so comfortable. And then there were others, people alone, couples and much else. And in the corner farther from the door there was a group of three boys, and one of them was waving.

Sunwoo wasn't surprised when Chanhee headed towards them. He followed, feeling completely out of place. The last time Sunwoo remembered hanging out with anyone was more than a year earlier, and he wasn't sure he still remembered how to human, so this night was a recipe for disaster.

"Hey, guys," he heard Chanhee greet. The replies were excited 'hello's. "I brought someone today."

And that was his cue.

Sunwoo looked up, noticing he had been staring at his shoes, and waved awkwardly. "Hey."

The boys were looking at him, each of them with a different expression, but all seeming to be judging him. Of course they were. Who the fuck waves and says 'hey' when meeting new people? This was a mistake. He should have never listened to Chanhee, he should have…

"This is Sunwoo, guys. Sunwoo, these are Younghoon, Changmin and Kevin."

Sunwoo fought the fog of anxiety in his mind to try and at least learn the boys' names. Changmin had orange hair, so that one was easy. Then there was Younghoon, the tall one with pouty lips who looked like a puppy, and Kevin who didn't really have any remarkable features. He was pretty as fuck, though.

"Sunwoo?" came a surprised voice. Kevin. The boy was smiling in a confused manner. "You mean your neighbor whom you… fight with a lot?"

Sunwoo was pretty sure Kevin was going to say 'hate', and he had no idea why Chanhee had glared at the boy for that. It was the truth, wasn't it? They had always hated each other.

"Yes, Kevin. That Sunwoo."

"And you brought him with you because…?" Well, now Sunwoo felt welcome. "No offence, Sunwoo! It's nice to meet you, I'm just surprised."

Orange hair, Changmin.

"Not offended. I don't know why he brought me, either."

"Want me to take you back?"

"Fuck you."

The other boys on the table laughed and Sunwoo felt his cheeks heating up. He was so used to being rude to Chanhee he didn't even think it might not be the best thing to do that in front of his friends.

"I like him," said… Changmin? Uh. Maybe it was a good idea then.

"Of course you do. Have you ordered?" asked Chanhee, pulling a chair to sit down, and that's when Sunwoo noticed there were no other chairs on their table.

He looked around, trying to figure out what to do, but the closest tables all had people, and Sunwoo really didn't want to ask for a chair. The closest empty table was on the other side of the place, though, and Sunwoo also didn't want to drag a chair all the way from there when there were empty chairs right next to him. But then-

"Oh my god, Sunwoo. Come on, sit here."

Sunwoo stared as Chanhee stood up, easily smiled at the guys on the table next to theirs and just like that acquired a chair. He bit on the inside of his cheek, angry with himself and Chanhee, but made his way to the chair the older had vacated. He ignored the way the others were looking between him and Chanhee, and once again wished he had been smarter and refused to come.

On the bright side, the boys soon started talking, and Sunwoo listened to them, figuring that if he stayed quiet the others would forget he was there.

"So, Sunwoo," or maybe not. It was Changmin who was talking to him. The others were focused on a heated argument about… fries? "You're still in school, right?"

"Uhn, yeah. You're in university?" What kind of stupid question was that, of course he was in university, why would Chanhee be hanging out with kids younger than him?

"Yup. I'm majoring in dance."

"Oh. That's cool." Sunwoo racked his brain for something else to say, but he had not idea what more he could add to that.

Changmin chuckled. "You like dancing?"

No. "Uhn, I'm not very good at it, so no."

Changmin chuckled, and then there was silence. Sunwoo pressed his lips into a thin line. Gods, why was he so awkward? Ok, he had to think of something else to say. Maybe he could ask more about his major? No, he didn't even know anything about dance majors. He could…

"So what do you plan on doing after you graduate?"

Ok, Changmin had asked a question. This was his chance. 

"Y'know. Going to uni. Moving from my parents' house," and why the fuck had he brought this up?

"That bad living with your parents? What, overprotective?"

Sunwoo almost laughed. "Not really."

Changmin seemed to notice his discomfort, because he didn't press. "Do you know what you want to study already?"

He did. "Not really."

Wait, no, that left no space for the conversation to continue, fuck.

"Well, you still have time to figure it out, right?"

Sunwoo nodded. "Sure. A year and a half should be enough."

And the conversation died again. Sunwoo was drained. He felt like he had run a marathon, and on top of that he was stressing about being awkward and incapable of keeping a conversation going.

Someone spoke behind him. "Hey, guys!"

Great, more people. Sunwoo turned to look and spotted a sweet looking boy with a big smile and a very calm aura, and next to him a much shorter boy who reminded Sunwoo of those little dogs that have so much energy they're always shaking. Well. That certainly was a pair.

"Cobbie!"

Sunwoo watched as the pretty boy - Kevin - jumped up from his seat and rushed to the newcomers, throwing himself on the calm boy's arms. The boy laughed, hugging Kevin back.

"Hey, baby."

Wait. Baby?

"What took you so long?" whined Kevin "Younghoon and Chanhee have been talking about some book they had both read and Changmin was busy with Sunwoo and I-"

"Sunwoo?"

And then all eyes were on Sunwoo. He felt his face heating up and bit on his lip.

"Uhn, hi."

The small excited puppy boy grinned. "You're cute."

Well, if Sunwoo was blushing before his face was on fire now.

"Careful, Eric, he might hate you for life for saying that."

"I swear to god, Chanhee…"

Everyone laughed, even though Sunwoo wasn't trying to be funny.

"Sunwoo… your neighbor?"

Did all of Chanhee's friends know him?

"We're not neighbors anymore," he said.

"Awn, Sunwoo, no need to pout about it. I'll visit more often!"

If Sunwoo could kill someone and get away with it, he would have choked Chanhee right then and there. And not in the kinky way.

"Do not. That wasn't a sad statement, the day you moved away I threw a party."

Again, laughter.

"Ok, I think we better talk about something else," said Kevin, who was still clinging to Jacob. "We just got allowed to come back, let's not get banned again."

Just got…?

"I wanna sit next to Sunwoo!"

Sunwoo blinked as Eric grabbed a chair from the table next to them, which had been emptied already, and sat right next to him. Sunwoo _really_ regretted coming with Chanhee.

"Guys, wait, you haven't even introduced yourselves yet," said Younghoon, way too softly for someone so big.

"I'm Eric!" said… well, Eric. "That's my brother, Jacob. Ew, hyung!"

The first thing Sunwoo noticed, then, was that he had been talking informally to a bunch of people who were most likely older than him. But then he followed Eric's gaze and that thought was forgotten as he noticed Kevin was sitting on Jacob's lap, kissing the other boy.

Sunwoo's brain short circuited. He stared at the duo, not even hearing the way the others on the table were complaining, or Kevin's whines of 'but we didn't get to see each other this week!'. Jacob and Kevin. They had kissed. They had kissed on the lips. They were both guys, but they had kissed. On the lips.

"Sunwoo?"

Sunwoo almost punched Chanhee in the face, and it wasn't even on purpose. He noticed his eyes were wide and tried to school his features.

"What?" he noticed Chanhee was sitting next to him. Uh. When had that happened?

"Are you ok? You look a bit pale."

Sunwoo managed to snort. "Worried?"

Chanhee seemed to take that as a sign that Sunwoo was alright and rolled his eyes. "You're such an ass."

And he turned away. Sunwoo glanced back at Kevin and Jacob. Kevin was still sitting on the other boy, but they weren't kissing anymore. Instead they were talking to Younghoon and Changmin. Someone tapped Sunwoo's shoulder. He looked to his side, coming face to face with Eric.

"How old are you?"

"Sixteen."

Eric smiled. "Finally! Hyung! Sunwoo is sixteen!"

Considering all of the boys on the table looked at the call of 'hyung' Sunwoo figured him and Eric were the youngest.

"You're… sixteen as well?"

"I'll be in December. You go to the same school Chanhee hyung went to, right?" and then Eric started talking a mile a minute, and Sunwoo sighed in relief.

Unlike Changmin, Eric didn't seem to need Sunwoo's input to keep the conversation going. He reminded Sunwoo a bit of his sister, in that aspect. He smiled. Eric was funny, even if it was sometimes hard to understand him because of how fast he spoke and his little lisp. Sunwoo found himself having fun, enjoying the company. Well, that was something new.

And then Changmin joined them, and after a while Sunwoo found himself participating in the conversation. Eric had started talking about a game he played with his brother and Sunwoo used to love that game - before staying at home was torture and his allowance was cut down so he had no money to pay for a place in a cafe. So they talked about that for a while, and from then on it was easier.

Sunwoo had pretty much forgotten how to interact with other people in the past year, but that wasn't the only thing he had forgotten. Until he started talking to Eric he didn't notice he had also forgotten how fun it could be to hang out with people; to have someone your own age to talk to, who liked the same things as you, liked to pass time the same way you did. Changmin eventually started talking about something else with Younghoon, and Kevin moved out of Jacob's lap to get closer to Sunwoo and Eric when they got to a topic that interested him and it was _fun_.

Even when the others started drinking and the conversations started getting a bit too crazy, Sunwoo had fun. Eric didn't drink - much -, anyways, so he was still mostly sober, too. And then it was time to go. Jacob's mom called him complaining about staying out too late since Eric was with him and the others decided they might as well go back home too. Sunwoo checked his phone and his eyes widened. It was past midnight. He hadn't even noticed time passing.

The others got up slowly, with groans and complaints, and in the end Jacob had to carry Kevin out of the restaurant, but they managed to make it outside. Sunwoo then stood to the side awkwardly as everyone said their goodbyes. Jacob carried Kevin away and he barely had strength to wave at Sunwoo goodbye, and Eric trailed after the pair, as if he was ready to catch both boys if they fell. Then they waited for Younghoon to catch a taxi, and when the boy was gone Changmin gave Chanhee a big smile then a hug, before turning to Sunwoo.

"It was nice meeting you, Sunwoo. Come again next time!"

Sunwoo's automatic response to that was to say 'no', but he swallowed it and smiled.

"Sure, hyung."

Chanhee scoffed. "Oh, so you call _him_ hyung."

Changmin giggled. "Don't be jealous, Chanhee."

Sunwoo felt his cheeks heating up. The fact that Chanhee was also blushing didn't help him feel less embarrassed.

"Not at all, you can have the brat."

Changmin laughed and Sunwoo rolled his eyes.

"Can we go?"

The other two seemed to sense the change in mood, because Changmin quickly waved them goodbye and left. Chanhee eyed Sunwoo, but didn't say anything.

Sunwoo climbed on the motorcycle behind Chanhee more easily this time.

"So, did you enjoy your night?"

"Well, it was like you weren't even there, so sure."

"You… whatever."

"I was ok with spending my day at the playground."

Chanhee didn't reply. He started the engine and a moment later they were on their way home, and Sunwoo focused on the noise and the wind swishing by, so his mind wouldn't wander to weird places. There was a lot running through Sunwoo's mind at the moment, but he didn't want to think about any of that. At least not now.

The lights on Sunwoo's house were turned off when he arrived. Of course they were, it was one in the morning. Perfect.

"Well. Here you are."

Sunwoo climbed down and took off his helmet, handing it to Chanhee. The older took it, then lifted the face shield of his own helmet. Sunwoo noticed the boy's eyes were shining. For some reason the sight made him feel embarrassed.

"What?" he asked, as Chanhee stared at him.

"A thank you would be nice, you know? I took you out, paid for your food, brought you home."

Sunwoo snorted. "Like I said, I was fine at the playground. You did all that cause you wanted to."

Chanhee frowned at him, and once again Sunwoo got the feeling Chanhee was trying to work him out. 'Give up', he thought, 'I've been trying for years and I still haven't figured it out'.

Chanhee scrutinized him for a second longer, then sighed.

"Good night, Sunwoo."

"Yeah, yeah."

Sunwoo glanced at his house. He didn't feel like going in, but there was no other choice. With a sigh, he headed to the door, reaching for his key. He heard Chanhee start the engine, but he only heard the boy taking off once he had stepped into the house. The motorcycle sound disappeared quickly, and then it was just Sunwoo.

The silence was oppressing, like a hand tightening around Sunwoo's throat, a rock pushing him down, flattening him like a pancake. He could still hear the laughter and music at the restaurant with the other boys, Eric's excited rambling and Changmin's nasally and high pitched voice. He could hear the hum of the motorcycle engine as Chanhee drove through the streets, focused on what he was doing. Compared to this silence, those sounds were music to Sunwoo's ears.

Leaving his shoes by the door Sunwoo quietly made his way to his bedroom. Once he had changed into pyjamas and settled under his covers he sighed. He should have just pretended he hadn't heard his mother and left early in the morning on Saturday. Then he wouldn't have had to take Jiwoo to the cinema and he wouldn't be like this.

Grabbing his pillow, Sunwoo screamed into it, and only after a long time did he finally manage to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone. One more chapter out! Hope you guys liked it! Comments are always very appreciated.
> 
> Hope you all have a good day!


	4. Chapter 4

"You went out with Chanhee oppa yesterday."

Sunwoo stared at his sister, not sure why he felt his cheeks heating up. He had been sent to pick her up from Sohee's house and they were now at the bus stop.

"Excuse me?"

Jiwoo's smile grew bigger. "You and Chanhee oppa. You went out together yesterday. Are you friends now? Finally."

"Ok, first of all no, we're not friends, that'll never happen. Second of all how do you even know about that?"

Jiwoo giggled and Sunwoo once again regretted the previous night.

"Chanhee oppa told us about it during breakfast. His mom asked him why he came back so late and he said he was out with his friends and you."

"See? His friends and me. I'm not in the friend category." Jiwoo wiggled her eyebrows at him. Sunwoo glared at her. "And anyways, it was an accident."

"How do you accidently hang out with someone?"

"Did you and Sohee have fun?"

"Was it because you didn't want to go home?"

Sunwoo sighed. "Jiwoo, please."

His sister pouted at him. "I just don't get it. You used to be so close to mom and dad, and now… why won't you tell me what happened?"

Sunwoo sighed and looked away. Every once in a while Jiwoo got more insistent, wanting to know about his fight with their parents. It didn't matter. Sunwoo wasn't going to talk about it no matter how much she insisted. But it didn't mean he liked ignoring her questions.

"You don't have to worry about it," he said, looking at her in the eyes.

Jiwoo stared back for a moment, and Sunwoo thought she would continue insisting. Instead, she sighed and looked away.

"I just don't like seeing you so sad, oppa. It's been ages since you had friends over or went out with anyone."

Sunwoo was surprised. He figured it made sense that Jiwoo noticed, because Sunwoo's social life had indeed disappeared from day to night, but he didn't think she would be paying attention.

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry."

Jiwoo nodded, although she didn't seem convinced. They stayed in silence for a moment, and then she looked at him again, this time smiling.

"Did you ride with him in his motorcycle?"

Sunwoo groaned and ignored her.

The thing is that after that disaster weekend Sunwoo had decided he would avoid Chanhee. Which was supposed to be easy as hell, because there was no reason for them to meet. Usually they met about four to five times a year; for their and their sisters' birthdays, and sometimes for Christmas. Chanhee's family didn't really celebrate Christmas, but Sunwoo's did, and they sometimes invited the others over.

Except Sunwoo's mom seemed to have thoroughly enjoyed her peaceful Saturday afternoon and two weekends later Sunwoo found out he had been named Jiwoo's personal chauffeur. It was Friday afternoon, and Sunwoo hadn't expected to spend it arguing with his mother, but here he was.

"I've got things to do, you know?" His mother's gaze didn't waver. She just stood there in front of him, arms crossed. Sunwoo groaned. "Why can't you or dad take her?"

"Your dad has a meeting tomorrow. And I'm busy."

Sunwoo opened his mouth to argue, but then noticed he wasn't going to make his mother change her mind.

"Whatever," he chose to say, heading to his room, which had been his original destination.

Sunwoo sighed as he left his backpack on the floor and let himself fall on his bed. His right arm hurt, so he was careful not to put weight on it. He wouldn't really mind taking Jiwoo to the shopping centre to meet her friends, really, if it wasn't for the fact that Chanhee would be there. He had already had a shit day and coming home to find out his plan to avoid Chanhee was about to go down the drain wasn't the best way to end it. Because Sunwoo knew there was no chance Sohee wouldn't go, and who would take her other than Chanhee? The fact that Chanhee even had a go to restaurant to take their little sisters to at the mall indicated he had been the one in charge of taking his little sister out for a while.

Sunwoo stared at the ceiling for a moment, at the old glow-in-the-dark stars that still helped him sleep at night, then sat up and took off his shirt. He examined his arm. There was a bruise forming, but nothing too bad. Not like Minwoo and the others hadn't done something like that before and even worse. Sunwoo could take it. But it still hurt, and he-

"Oppa, did you- what's that?"

Sunwoo shrieked, covering himself with the closest piece of fabric he could find, which happened to be his curtains. "Get out!"

Jiwoo was staring at him, eyes wide. "But your arm-"

"I said get out, Jiwoo. Now!"

The girl stared for a moment longer, only, then headed out. Sunwoo sighed and let go of the curtain, going over to his door and locking it. Fuck. He should have been more careful. Now Jiwoo would ask and he would have to come up with an excuse, and she probably wouldn't believe him, and… fuck. The last thing Sunwoo needed was his little sister knowing he was constantly being punched, made fun of, and shoved around in school. Since she was three years younger than him they didn't study in the same building and he had managed to keep it a secret from her. He didn't want her to know how much of a loser he was, and he didn't want her to find out the reason behind all of the bullying. Which was also the reason behind his and his parents' fight, and behind him stopping going out and bringing friends over. Can't hang out with friends if you haven't got any.

Sunwoo groaned and slid to the floor, sitting down with his back against the door. He had no idea how, one year earlier, 12-year-old Jiwoo had seen him with a black eye and cut lip and hadn't swarmed him with questions, but she hadn't. For a whole year he had managed to hide the truth about him being bullied from her, and he wanted to keep it like that. He had to think of an excuse.

His head was pounding. Great. A headache on top of everything. Sunwoo was tired. He was tired of getting shoved against lockers and being tripped in the hallways. He was tired of not having friends, of being completely alone all the time, and not for the first time he cursed his past self for being naive and blind. Why? Why had he been so stupid? Why had he trusted Insoo? He knew the boy wasn't trustworthy, and yet he had gone and fucking... Sunwoo refrained from banging his head against the door. It was already hurting enough as it was.

And then Sunwoo's mind flashed back to a few days earlier, at the diner with Chanhee and his friends. He thought of Kevin and Jacob's kiss. Sunwoo couldn't get the image off his head. Jacob calling Kevin baby, and then the two of them kissing softly. Sunwoo could still remember how gently Jacob had held Kevin, as if the boy was precious and fragile. Sunwoo felt like a pervert whenever he thought of that, because who the fuck keeps thinking about a random couple kissing for days after meeting them?

But he couldn't help it. If he let his guard down for a second the image resurfaced, making him feel somewhere between queasy and excited. And then he remembered he shouldn't be thinking about that and fought to take his mind elsewhere. Every time it left him frustrated and with a sour taste in his mouth.

"Oppa?" called Jiwoo, from the other side of the door. "Did you see my phone charger around?"

So that's probably what she had entered his room for.

"No," he replied, not even trying to remember if he had. He didn't want to talk to Jiwoo right now. If he did he would probably be an ass to her and that was the last thing he wanted.

"Did someone hurt you?"

Her voice was so soft and worried, and Sunwoo felt like shit for wanting to yell at her for asking that.

"No, Jiwoo. I fell. Can you leave me alone?"

He heard the girl walking away and sighed in relief. His eyes were stinging. The feeling wasn't unfamiliar, but as much as Sunwoo wanted to let himself cry he knew he would have to go down for dinner in a few hours, and if he showed up with puffy bloodshot eyes there would be no stopping Jiwoo.

Pushing himself up from the floor, Sunwoo opened his drawer and pulled out his sketchbook. He was not in the mood to draw, but he knew if he started then he would eventually get into it. He stared at the blank page he had selected, then closed his eyes and let his thoughts run free. He did that when he wasn't feeling very inspired, and usually chose to draw whatever concept or thought crossed his head the most. Except this time his mind kept going back to Kevin and Jacob, and then to Chanhee, and there was no way in hell Sunwoo was going to draw either of those options.

Opening his eyes he figured it was time for plan B, which was exercising stuff he was learning. Which happened to be human figures. He looked up a pose and studied it for a moment before starting. Faces were easy nowadays, he had long ago learned how to draw faces and didn't even need to use references anymore. Bodies and poses? Yeah, those were harder. He focused on what he was doing, relieved that it took his mind away from other things, and let his hand run free.

Sunwoo only noticed what he had done when his father banged on his door telling him it was time for dinner and that he had already called Sunwoo five times, along with a threat to leave him without food. Sunwoo blinked, trying to come back from the haze that drawing put him in. As he slowly came out, he looked at what he had drawn and his cheeks reddened. The pose looked good, it was actually one of his best works so far. But the face… the face staring at him from the page was Chanhee's face. Sunwoo stared for a second before grabbing his sketchbook and hurling it to the other side of the room. Fuck. What the fuck was wrong with him?

"How did you fall?"

Sunwoo ignored his sister. They were sitting in front of the ice cream store waiting for Jiwoo's friends to arrive. so they could buy their ice cream and head to the arcade. Sunwoo didn't know, until that very day, that his sister consistently went to this arcade-like place to play games with Sohee.

"Is that one of your friends?"

Jiwoo looked to where he was nodding and then turned back to him, glaring.

"You're so funny."

"It dresses like you," he said, gesturing to his sister's sparkly outfit and then back to the bunny-costume wearing person advertising a store's new product.

"Jiwoo!"

One down, two more to go. Sunwoo got up as Jiwoo rushed to her friend and politely greeted the girl's mother.

"You must be Jiwoo's brother," said the woman, smiling at him.

Sunwoo nodded, "yes, m'am."

"Jiwoo talks a lot about you."

Sunwoo smiled at that. It was good to know his sister liked him enough to talk about him to her friends.

"Sohee! Over here!"

And now Sunwoo's afternoon was ruined. He really hoped, as he turned around, Sohee's parents had decided to bring her themselves that day. They hadn't.

"Hi, mrs. Jung." This time Chanhee was wearing a pair of leather pants and a simple shirt that was tucked into his pants. The choker on his neck completed the outfit nicely. Chanhee looked- no. Sunwoo suddenly felt self conscious about his own loose jeans and plain black shirt, before reminding himself he wasn't here to impress anyone.

"Hello, Chanhee darling."

"Hey, Sunwoo."

Not wanting to seem impolite, Sunwoo forced a smile. "Hi, hyung."

He hated the smug look on Chanhee's face, it made him want to punch the boy.

"Oh, Jihye is here as well." They all greeted the newcomers, and then mrs Jung spoke to Sunwoo and Chanhee again. "Boys, if you want to you can go do something else. We'll watch the girls and once they're done we can call you."

Tempting. Sunwoo loved his sister, but spending his afternoon watching her play with her friends at an arcade was not his idea of fun. Plus, he had come prepared, had brought his sketchbook - now with one less page - and pencils, and a book. But if he accepted-

"Are you sure, mrs. Jung? We know they can be a handful."

Mrs. Jung laughed.

"Oh we don't mind, right?"

Mrs Lee smiled and nodded. "You boys are already very nice for bringing them, go have some fun as well."

Sunwoo's mouth was already open to say there was no need, simply to avoid spending time with Chanhee alone, but the older was faster.

"Well, then we'll go. But if there's anything you need you can call us, auntie!"

And the two ladies waved at them, simple as that, and then Chanhee grabbed Sunwoo's arm and Sunwoo could see Jiwoo and Sohee giggling together. Fuck.

Chanhee practically dragged him away. Sunwoo let him for a moment, until he was sure the two ladies and the girls couldn't see them anymore, and then he ripped his arm from Chanhee's grip.

"What the fuck?"

"Awn, what happened to the 'hyung'?"

Sunwoo wanted to punch that stupid smile out of Chanhee's face. "What do you think you're doing?"

Chanhee raised an eyebrow. "Saving us from an afternoon of staring at four teen girls playing video games."

"Us? Take care of yourself, Chanhee, I'll do whatever I think is better."

Chanhee rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm sure you're so sad you couldn't go with them."

Sunwoo's arm was throbbing. Chanhee had grabbed his bruised arm, and even if he hadn't directly touched the bruising part he had still pulled on it, and now it was hurting.

"Better than spending the afternoon with you."

"Who said anything about spending the afternoon with me? You're free to go wherever." Sunwoo felt his cheeks heating up. Chanhee was right, he didn't have to spend the afternoon with the older, and he didn't know why the fact hadn't crossed his mind before. "Unless you do want to spend it with me?"

Sunwoo glared. "In your dreams."

Chanhee studied him for a moment. Then he smiled.

"How about we go get some ice cream?"

Sunwoo snorted. "No."

"Oh, come on, you used to love ice cream!"

Why the fuck did Chanhee remember that? "I don't love anything if you're involved."

"Edgy."

"Didn't you just say we didn't have to spend time together?"

Chanhee nodded. "I did. Then I remembered last time I left you alone you ended up doing nothing at an abandoned playground."

Sunwoo's cheeks heated up again. "I told you I was doing fine at the playground."

"I'll pay for your ice cream."

Sunwoo stared at the older, then sighed. "Why did you have to move to my street?"

Chanhee smiled brightly, clearly aware he had won this battle. Sunwoo had no idea why the boy was so insistent, or why was he agreeing to this. He told himself it was for the free ice cream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, guys! Thank you very much for all the kudos and comments last chapter <333 i hope you liked this one too!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: there is some bullying and descriptions of violence in this chapter, so if you're triggered by that I suggest you skip it! Please be safe <3

Sunwoo once again regretted everything as soon as he noticed what kind of situation he had gotten himself into. He was at an ice cream shop, a different one from the shop the girls had met at, sitting in front of Chanhee, the two of them with their own ice creams, completely silent. Chanhee didn't seem bothered. He was eating his ice cream happily, humming at times. Sunwoo was trying to enjoy his own treat, but he was too busy wondering how could Chanhee eat through such an awkward situation.

"You're staring. Again."

"You're a messy eater."

Chanhee frowned, touching the area around his mouth.

"There's nothing on my face." There really wasn't. "Your ice cream is melting."

Sunwoo grabbed a spoonful of ice cream and put it in his mouth defiantly. Chanhee only watched him, seeming amused and confused.

"So, how was your week?" asked the older.

Shit. It was shit. Like always.

"Fine."

"Mine was a bit stressful. I completely forgot I had to finish my project and submit it, only remembered on the last day for submissions. Got it done, though. Isn't your exam week coming up?"

"Yes."

"Good luck. I remember how stressful exam weeks were. At uni we have less formal tests, more assignments and projects. Sohee should have started studying already, but she's procrastinating. She and Jiwoo always say they'll study together online, but I doubt they actually get any studying done."

What was Chanhee doing? They had never talked. Why was he talking to Sunwoo now?

"Are you bored?"

Chanhee looked taken aback. "Not really. Why?"

"Why are you talking to me?"

Chanhee sighed. "Because eating ice cream in silence while staring at each other is weird, Sunwoo."

"Well, that wouldn't be a problem if you hadn't dragged me here."

"I didn't drag you, you came willingly."

"I came for the ice cream, not to talk to you."

"Wanna look around?"

Sunwoo stared at Chanhee, who had just completely ignored him and changed the subject. 

"No."

"You're so difficult."

And they fell into silence. Sunwoo focused on his ice cream. It _was_ melting. He ate it, trying to ignore the fact that he could feel Chanhee's eyes on him, and when he was done he looked up in hopes that the other would have gotten bored and left. He hadn't. He was still sitting there, staring. He smiled at Sunwoo when their eyes met.

"Wanna look around now?"

Sunwoo's mind was working a mile a minute, trying to understand what Chanhee was playing at. It came up with a total of 0 conclusions. Sunwoo sighed and got up.

"Will you leave me alone after?"

Chanhee just giggled and got up as well.

The two of them made their way through the people. Sunwoo could see Chanhee looking around, interested, but all he wanted was a quiet place to sit down and draw. At least Chanhee wasn't making conversation anymore. Sometimes he pointed at something, requesting that Sunwoo take a look, but that was all. Until the boy saw something that made him a bit too excited.

"Sunwoo, look!" and grabbed Sunwoo's arm.

The scream Sunwoo let out was involuntary, just like the tears that sprang to his eyes. Chanhee had grabbed right where the bruise was.

"Fuck," he mumbled, clutching his arm bellow the bruise. Chanhee had let go and was staring at him.

"Sunwoo? Hey, what happened? Are you ok? Did I hurt you? Let me see."

Sunwoo pulled his arm away, looking at the older. "I'm fine."

Chanhee was frowning. "You're crying."

He wasn't _crying_. Yes, his eyes were watery with tears, and maybe one had escaped and run down his cheek, but he wasn't crying.

"It's fine, Chanhee."

The older boy looked at him in the eyes and then before Sunwoo could even think grabbed his arm and pulled his sleeve up. Sunwoo was fast, he moved away and pulled the sleeve down, glaring at Chanhee, but the boy had already seen. His eyes were wide and his mouth was hanging slightly open. He was still holding onto Sunwoo by the wrist.

"Sunwoo, what the fuck?"

"Let me go."

"That's a fucking handprint, Sunwoo. I didn't grab you with nearly enough force to leave that there, who the fuck did that?"

"No one," replied Sunwoo, feeling his breath pick up. He was starting to feel panicked, and Chanhee wouldn't let go of his wrist, and he needed to get out. "Let me go."

Chanhee seemed to notice Sunwoo was being serious, because he did let go, but when Sunwoo started walking back to where they had just come from, the older went after him. Sunwoo didn't complain or say anything. His mind was running with what had just happened, the fact that Chanhee had just seen the stupid hand-shaped bruise in his arm and now knew that someone had hurt him.

A hand grabbed his wrist, forcing him to stop walking. When Sunwoo looked up he noticed he had been about to run over one of the fake plants that decorated the mall. He looked back at Chanhee, who was holding his wrist softly and looking at Sunwoo with pity. Sunwoo hated it.

"Let's go back to the ice cream shop. I can buy you another ice cream and I won't bother you."

Sunwoo wanted to scream at him, to tell him he didn't need Chanhee's pity and charity, but instead he only sighed and headed over to the shop. This time around Chanhee walked by his side instead of behind him.

"Sunwoo," he called. "It's ok if you don't want to talk about it, I won't force you. But… at least tell me if it was your mom or your dad. Have they been hitting you? Is that the reason you didn't want to go home that day?"

"They don't hit me," physically, he mentally added.

Chanhee didn't seem much relieved.

"Well. If you ever want to talk about it-"

"I don't."

Chanhee shut his mouth. In his head, Sunwoo celebrated. Finally he found a way to throw the boy off. The thought left a bitter aftertaste.

It became a normal occurrence for Sunwoo and Chanhee to meet on the weekends. Sunwoo figured Chanhee's parents had put him on sister duty a while ago, and now Sunwoo had gotten the job as well, so they met nearly every week while taking their sisters out. Sometimes they barely interacted, when Jiwoo went over to Sohee's house instead of both of them going out, and sometimes they didn't even meet, when Sohee went over to their house. But there were times when they had to spend long afternoons and evenings together at the mall, the arcade or at restaurants.

After that one disastrous time Chanhee seemed to be a bit more cautious around Sunwoo. He was a very touchy person, Sunwoo had always known that, but he could see the older was holding back, and when he did touch Sunwoo he was very delicate. Sunwoo wasn't very sure how he felt about that. There was always a weird fluttering on his stomach when Chanhee touched him with so much care, but he didn't want to examine that up close, so he just ignored it. The fact was that besides all of the touching and the glances Sunwoo knew Chanhee thought he didn't notice there was also all the talking. Chanhee talked a lot. He always had something to tell, something to complain about or something to ask. Sometimes Sunwoo humored him, when he was in the mood. Sometimes he didn't, and on those days he could see Chanhee struggling to keep conversation going by himself.

Now, Sunwoo knew Chanhee was very much an introvert. He had always been a quieter kid, who liked his alone time, even though he always played well with other kids. So it made no sense, in Sunwoo's mind, that the boy was so intent on talking to him. But he was, and Sunwoo was too much of a good boy to just completely ignore the older and let him talk to the walls. So he started making an effort to reply. He did try to look as uninterested as possible, hoping Chanhee would get the hint. It didn't seem to be working.

And for a month that was their routine. Meet on the weekends, watch the girls while talking about whatever topic Chanhee had chosen for the day and then go home. And repeat. Chanhee often talked about his friends, too. Sunwoo wondered, in the back of his mind, if Chanhee would ever ask him to hang out with his friends again. Then chastised himself for thinking that, hit himself for _wanting_ that to happen. Those were _Chanhee's_ friends, not his. They were probably still weirded out by him from that one time and had asked Chanhee not to take him along again. And that _wasn't a problem_. Sunwoo didn't want to hang out with them. He was fine on his own. Having to put up with Chanhee every other week for a few hours was already bad enough.

He told himself that constantly, until one day it all came crumbling down.

Sunwoo was used to being punched, shoved, tripped, laughed at, and all else. It had been happening for a year already, so he had had enough time to make peace with it. But the fact that he was used to it didn't mean it didn't hurt. Physically and emotionally. And sometimes… well, sometimes the guys really did step it up. Sunwoo wasn't even doing anything. He was sitting under a tree drawing and waiting for recess to be over so he could go back to class. It was Friday, finally, which meant he had two punch-free days ahead. On the next day he was going to take Jiwoo to this little fair thingy she and Sohee had found out about, then cinema, and then he had the rest of the weekend free.

He didn't notice there were people approaching until his sketchbook was ripped out of his hand. Sunwoo was on his feet before he could even process the situation properly. Seungjong and Junghoon were standing in front of him, looking at his sketchbook and smirking. If they hadn't taken it Sunwoo would have made a run for it.

"Oh, what is this?" Taunted Junghoon. Sunwoo didn't reply. "You like drawing men, hm? Who is this Sunnie, your boyfriend?"

Sunwoo could feel his cheeks burning. He still didn't reply.

"Come on, Sunnie, tell us who this is! Do you get on your knees for him?"

"Oh, oh, or are you drawing porn, Sunnie? Is that it? Is this some of that weird gay drawn porn those crazy girl like to read?"

Seungjong laughed at Junghoon's words. "I bet he likes to read it too."

The two of them laughed. Sunwoo hoped his tactic of staying silent and still would make them bored enough to just leave. It didn't work. Junghoon grabbed his arm.

"Yah. We're talking to you. So disrespectful, don't even reply when your classmates ask you something."

"I think we should teach him a lesson, Seung."

Sunwoo flinched. The boys noticed and laughed.

"Are you scared, Sunnie? I bet having a dick in your ass hurts more than what we're about to do."

A brief thought of 'I'm a virgin, how would I know?' crossed Sunwoo's mind, but it was quickly forgotten as Junghoon shoved him, making him fall. Seungjong threw his sketchbook to the ground and Sunwoo made the mistake of thinking that was it and reaching for the book. Junghoon stepped on his hand hard and Sunwoo screamed.

"Shh, be a good boy and stay quiet." Junghoon put more of his weight on his foot. Sunwoo couldn't see through the tears, but he did feel the kick to his ribs and then someone stepping on his leg and then shoulder as he tried to squirm away. And then there was a weight on his chest, and it hurt more than everything. He saw Seungjong's blurry face right in front of his.

"It's a pity Insoo couldn't join us today."

And then the weight was gone. Sunwoo heard the two boys walking away, but didn't move. His ribs, leg, shoulder and hand were hurting and he could only stay still and breathe, trying to get the tears to stop and the pain to subside.

When the bell rang Sunwoo forced himself to get up. They were getting bolder. Usually it was just a shove and a punch, a kick or tripping him in the hallway. They had never gone this far before. Sunwoo still had two years until he was free from school. He wasn't sure he would survive that long. He grabbed his sketchbook and looked at the drawing the boys had teased him about. He closed his eyes and pretended he hadn't been drawing Chanhee again.

Later, when he met Jiwoo at her building, the girl seemed to notice his weird mood, because she was quiet on the ride home. Sunwoo had done his best to clean the footprints on his pants and shirt, and had managed a reasonable success. His clothes were dirty, but at least there were no marks. Jiwoo didn't question when he locked himself away in his room. His parents didn't care. When the threat to let him starve if he didn't go have dinner with everyone 'right this instant' came, Sunwoo welcomed it. He wasn't hungry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! Did you like this chapter? I hope you did!
> 
> Thank you very much for all the comments and kudos last chapter, it warms my heart <333 and I hope everyone has a nice day/night.


	6. Chapter 6

Chanhee clearly noticed Sunwoo wasn't feeling well. Maybe it was because recently Sunwoo had been making an effort to dress a bit better, or because he had started actually talking to Chanhee instead of replying only the bare minimum, and now he had showed up wearing his old loose jeans and plain black shirt that was so old it wasn't even black anymore and wasn't even replying to what Chanhee said.

The older talked about how he was going to meet his friends later in the day, and Sunwoo wished more than ever he would add a 'why don't you come along?' He didn't. And then about half an hour after meeting Chanhee finally spoke up.

"Are you ok?"

Peachy. Moving his shoulder hurt, his hand had scrapes and every time his pants rubbed against his leg it made him want to scream. There was also the nice bruise on his chest from where Seungjong had kneeled on him.

"Fine."

He noticed Chanhee looking him over and figured the older was trying to access if Sunwoo was physically hurt. He hunched his shoulders, feeling exposed. Chanhee frowned.

"Can I see your arms?"

Sunwoo snorted and lifted his shirt sleeves. There was nothing to see there, and it would probably get Chanhee to stop bothering him. The older frowned as he examined Sunwoo.

"Excuse me, are you a doctor?"

"I'm worried about you."

"I can take care of myself."

Chanhee opened his mouth, but then closed it again. They stayed quiet. Sunwoo hated this heavy atmosphere.

"I'm going to the restroom."

He got up and left before Chanhee could complain or do something really fucking weird like saying he was going with Sunwoo.

The restroom wasn't far from where they were. Sunwoo walked in and sighed in relief, glad to be away from Chanhee's oppressing worry. He didn't really need the bathroom, so he just locked himself in a stall for a moment. He took a deep breath, then another. He could take a lot, but Chanhee worrying about him wasn't on the list of things he could handle. Once he was sure he wasn't about to start crying he left the stall. He shouldn't have.

Sunwoo had studied with Insoo since 1st grade. They were best friends for a long time, and looking back Sunwoo could tell it wasn't a healthy relationship. But back then he didn't care, because to him the sun rose and fell with Insoo, even if he made Sunwoo do stuff he didn't want to or told Sunwoo's secrets to other people. And then they had fought. Because Sunwoo was stupid, and his heart was stupid. And Insoo was now standing right there in the bathroom, next to Junghoon. And they both were looking at Sunwoo. Insoo grimaced, but Junghoon smiled.

"Sunnie! Nice seeing you here. Did you just use that stall? Were you peeing in there? You were, right? I heard fags pee sitting down."

The comment made Insoo smile. Sunwoo glanced at the door. Could he make it?

"Oh no, Sunnie, don't even think about it." In three quick steps Junghoon was in front of him. "We had some fun yesterday, Insoo. Sunnie, show Insoo how much fun we had!"

Junghoon tugged on Sunwoo's pants and Sunwoo yelped, tears welling up in his eyes. No. No, this was too much. Junghoon wouldn't… 

"Come on, Sunnie. I bet there's a nice mark there where Seung stepped, right?"

He tugged again and Sunwoo tried to step away, to run. His heart was banging painfully against his chest and he felt like he couldn't breath. He needed to get away. But Junghoon was much stronger than him. And he seemed to be having fun, if his laugh was anything to go by. He pulled Sunwoo closer, holding his wrist, and then someone cleared their throat. Junghoon let go of Sunwoo, looking past him. Sunwoo only glanced in the person's direction. His saviour was a janitor, who was staring at them with his arms crossed, but Sunwoo didn't stay long enough to thank him. He just ran.

Sunwoo didn't even look where he was going, too desperate to just get away. He only noticed he was running back to Chanhee when the boy's worried face appeared in front of him.

"Sunwoo?"

And Sunwoo knew he looked like a complete mess, tears running down his face, breathless, but he didn't care. He didn't care about anything, he just wanted someone to hold him and tell him everything was going to be ok. He threw himself at Chanhee, clinging to him. Chanhee's arms immediately wrapped around him, holding him tight, but still delicate.

"Sunwoo, hey. Breathe. It's ok, hyung is here with you. You're safe."

Sunwoo buried his face on the boy's chest, letting the tears fall.

After a moment he felt a hand on his hair, gently running through it. Chanhee was whispering something in his ear and it was comforting, but Sunwoo wasn't paying enough attention to make out the words. They stayed like that for quite some time, until Sunwoo finally calmed down and realized his current position. He pulled back, cheeks burning. Chanhee let him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered.

"What happened?" Sunwoo shook his head. He heard Chanhee sighing. "Well. If you ever want to talk about it I'm here, ok?"

Sunwoo nodded. He felt too vulnerable and scared to put up a façade right now.

And then, "can I go with you today, hyung?"

Chanhee didn't comment on the honorific. "Where?"

"Meet your friends." Sunwoo was already regretting asking. He sounded whiny and needy even to his own ears.

He felt a hand on his cheek and then Chanhee was making him look up. Sunwoo pulled back, but didn't look away.

"Sure. I think Eric is going today, he's been dying to see you again." Sunwoo's surprise and confusion must have shown, because Chanhee frowned. "They all liked you a lot."

It sounded sincere. It was also a loaded sentence, but Sunwoo was still too shaken up to try and dissect it.

"I have to take Jiwoo home."

"I'll pick you up after leaving Sohee at home."

Sunwoo nodded. His brain was telling him this was a bad idea, that he should be distancing himself from Chanhee, not acting like a needy kid and asking to hang out with the older boy's friends. But his body and heart were telling him if he stayed alone for the rest of the day he might not make it.

The two of them didn't talk much after that. Chanhee bought Sunwoo some ice cream, which had become a bit of a ritual for them, and stayed silent as Sunwoo ate. It made Sunwoo uneasy. Chanhee was probably weirded out. Sunwoo had been acting weird since early and then had disappeared into the bathroom only to come back running, in tears, and then ask to hang out with Chanhee's friends. It didn't surprise Sunwoo that the older had nothing to say to him.

And then after their sisters called to be picked up they went over and when Sunwoo and Jiwoo were about to leave Chanhee grabbed his hand.

"I'll be there in half an hour, yeah?" It was 7pm. "I'm only meeting the boys later in the night, but we can go first and get a table."

Again, Sunwoo didn't do the reasonable thing and tell Chanhee he could wait, or even better, call the whole thing off and play it as a joke. No. He nodded and started walking away.

Jiwoo eyed him as they made their way to the bus stop.

"Did something happen, oppa?"

"No. How was the movie?"

Thankfully, Jiwoo took the bait. She started talking about whatever movie she and Sohee had watched, and Sunwoo listened to it, trying to forget the afternoon.

Sunwoo felt a bit ridiculous. He had put on one of his best jeans, a tight pair with rips on the knees, along with a white turtleneck, which was… actually the best and most colorful set of clothes he owned. At first he had put on a white tank top he liked, but then noticed his shoulder bruise showed, so he changed it. After he was dressed he immediately felt embarrassed. What was he doing? What the hell was he dressing up for? But then there was a knock on the door and he knew he had no time to think about it or change. He left his room and immediately ran into Jiwoo.

"Hey! Oh. Oppa, you look good. Going somewhere special?"

There was amusement in her voice, but also a hint of relief.

"No," he replied, because he wasn't.

"Hm, I see. Well, go on. I would hate to make you late to your not-important business."

"Sunwoo. Chanhee is here," called his mother, seeming annoyed.

Jiwoo looked at Sunwoo, eyes wide. Sunwoo looked back just the same. His cheeks heated up. Jiwoo smiled, then giggled.

"Bye, oppa!"

Sunwoo opened his mouth to tell her to fuck off, but Jiwoo was already gone, probably to call Sohee and gossip.

"Sunwoo!"

"I'm going!"

His mother glared at him as Sunwoo made his way to the door. He glared back. Then he looked at Chanhee and almost choked on his spit. Chanhee was once again wearing his leather pants, but this time he had put on a white tank top and a fishnet shirt on top of it. He looked stunning, and Sunwoo wasn't even embarrassed to admit that - to himself - because anyone with eyes would think so.

"Let's go?" Said the boy. He had a smile on his face, half teasing half pleased. Sunwoo felt his cheeks heating up again.

"Yeah."

He headed to Chanhee's motorcycle and got on after the older. Chanhee handed him a helmet. As Sunwoo put it on, the older spoke up.

"You look cute in that shirt."

This time Sunwoo did choke on his spit. Chanhee laughed, putting on his own helmet.

"Shut up," said Sunwoo, but it was drowned out by the sound of the engine.

They didn't talk during the ride - it was pointless, really, they would have to scream to be heard. When they arrived, just as Chanhee had said, they were the first ones, and as they settled on a table they didn't talk either. It was… very awkward. Usually Chanhee tried to make conversation even if it was a bit hard for him, but this time he was just… watching Sunwoo. At one point, Sunwoo huffed.

"What?"

Chanhee had the decency of looking embarrassed.

"Are you feeling better?"

No.

"No." Oh. That wasn't supposed to come out.

Chanhee pouted at him. "You sure you don't want to talk about it?"

"If I ask you to buy me some beer will you?"

Chanhee raised an eyebrow. "Have you ever drunk beer?"

"Of course," lied Sunwoo. He had never touched a drop of alcohol.

"If you promise me you'll drink just a bit…"

Good. Sunwoo had never gotten drunk, but if there were so many movies and stories about people drinking to forget their problems then it surely worked, right?

"When are the others getting here?"

"Actually-"

"Chanhee!"

Sunwoo frowned. He didn't remember that boy from last time.

"Again, Changmin? Your hair will fall out if you keep this up."

Oh. Changmin. Orange hair. Except his hair was now purple. He gave Chanhee a dimpled smile, eyes crinkling, and then seemed to notice Sunwoo was there.

"Sunwoo! Did Chanhee finally have courage to ask you to come again?"

Sunwoo frowned and looked at Chanhee, who was glaring at Changmin. Ask him to come? What? He looked at Changmin. The boy was smiling brightly.

"I…" he didn't really want to say he had asked to come.

"Sunwoo had a rough day, so I asked if he wanted to join us."

Sunwoo sighed in relief. At least like this he wouldn't seem like a complete loser.

"I see. Well. Nothing better to cure a bad day than hanging out with friends a bit, right? Eric will be over the moon."

Sunwoo doubted that, and also _friends_? He wouldn't call these guys his friends, and he was pretty sure they didn't consider him a friend either.

"When did you do this?" asked Chanhee. Sunwoo suspected it was because he looked like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown and Chanhee was trying to change the topic.

"Yesterday," answered Changmin. "My roommate is pissed cause the bathroom sink is purple."

Chanhee snorted and slowly moved the conversation to other topics. Sunwoo was glad.

The others only arrived a long time later. Chanhee and Changmin had already talked about a million things with little contribution from Sunwoo. The first one was Younghoon, who smiled brightly at Sunwoo and greeted him warmly. Then came Kevin and Jacob, holding hands, and Eric trailing after them. Sunwoo barely had time to feel embarrassed about being with Kevin and Jacob again, because as soon as Eric spotted him he launched himself at Sunwoo, hugging him and screaming in his ear.

Sunwoo's reaction was instinctive. Firstly because for the last year the only reason people charged in his direction with that much intensity was to punch him, and secondly because Eric's arms hit the bruise on his shoulder and it hurt like hell. Sunwoo could feel the others staring, and Eric was looking at him like a kicked puppy. At least it was just a shove. Right?

"Yah, Eric, I told you not to touch people without their consent," came Jacob's voice, and just like that the tension dissolved.

Kevin pouted at Eric, pointing at Sunwoo. "Look at him, he's terrified of you!"

Sunwoo glanced at Chanhee, who was staring at him, then looked away.

"I'm sorry, Sunwoo. I was just excited," said Eric, and he also sounded like a kicked puppy.

"It's ok. Just… maybe a warning would be nice."

Eric settled next to him way more gently. As the others went back to talking Sunwoo looked at Chanhee.

"And that beer?"

Chanhee sighed and got up to buy their drinks.

Sunwoo woke up with a headache. Not the first time, but this time it was accompanied by a few weird things. First there was something weird about the room he was in. Had his walls always been this soft green? Second, when he tried to remember if he had gone to bed with a headache he noticed he didn't remember going to bed at all. And third there was a person sleeping next to him. Wait. What?

Sunwoo sat up, startled, and stared at the sleeping boy who was squished between him and the wall. The green wall. That was not Sunwoo's bedroom wall. Sunwoo's bedroom was blue - which he hated, but now was not the time to think about that. Chanhee was sleeping deeply, mouth hanging slightly open and soft snores coming out of it as his chest rose and fell slowly. His hair was a mess of pink sprawled on the pillow, and he was wearing an iron man shirt that was too big for him.

What the fuck? Was Sunwoo in Chanhee's bedroom? Why was he there? Why the fuck was he sleeping in the same bed as Chanhee? What the fuck? Sunwoo tried to remember what had happened. He remembered almost punching Eric and then chugging down a can of beer without even thinking, and then talking to Eric and Kevin about movies and chugging another beer, and then he remembered telling Changmin he was pretty with purple hair, but that memory was a bit fuzzier, and then… and then nothing. What the fuck?

Either Chanhee felt Sunwoo's panic even in his sleep or he was also bothered by the light shining through the window - which, Sunwoo noticed, was what had woken him up. The fact was that Chanhee stirred, then stretched and opened his eyes, and then made eye contact with Sunwoo.

"Oh," and why the fuck was Chanhee's voice that throaty all of a sudden. "You're up."

"What the fuck?"

Chanhee sighed and stretched again, then sat up.

"I bet you have a headache."

"Why am I in your room?"

"Because you promised me you would drink only a little bit and ended up drinking four beers without eating anything. I had to call a taxi, and Changmin had to take my motorcycle home."

Oh. Ok, that explained a lot. But still, Sunwoo didn't like being in Chanhee's room. And maybe it was the embarrassment talking, but the fact that they had shared a bed…

"Couldn't you just take me home?"

"And open the door with what key, Sunwoo? Would you like me to risk waking your parents up as I tried to drag you to bed? Look, I don't think you understand how drunk you were. You couldn't stand. You could barely stay seated without falling. You told Changmin his purple hair was pretty five times and then said Kevin and Jacob should get married even though it was illegal. That's how drunk you were."

Sunwoo's face was burning. Oh god. If Chanhee's friends didn't think he was a freak before they sure as hell did now. Fuck. And then he noticed the shirt he was wearing wasn't his.

"My shirt."

Chanhee sighed.

"You threw up." Sunwoo hoped to all gods Chanhee had changed his shirt in the dark. "When were you going to tell me about the bruises on your shoulder and chest?"

And then Sunwoo was angry. Because who did Chanhee think he was? Sunwoo's life was none of his business, he didn't own Chanhee an explanation. Why the fuck did he have to tell the older everything? They weren't even friends! They hated each other! And deep down Sunwoo knew all of that was just because he was embarrassed about the bullying and scared Chanhee would figure out what was going on and turn on Sunwoo as well. They weren't friends, but at least Chanhee wasn't constantly picking on him. But he didn't want to think about that, so he crossed his arms.

"Never. It's none of your business."

Chanhee frowned. "Sunwoo, it's the second time I see you with a bruise. And I doubt it's the second bruise, I always wonder how many you're hiding under your clothes. This is not normal, Sunwoo. If someone is hurting you, then you need to tell someone-"

"I don't need to do anything! For the last time, Chanhee, it's my life and I'll do whatever the fuck I want. So stop trying to stick your nose into my life and leave me alone."

Chanhee stared at him for a moment, and Sunwoo saw a look of hurt crossing his eyes. He immediately started regretting his words, but Chanhee shrugged before he could do anything.

"Fine. Leave, then. Your shirt's in the bathroom."

Sunwoo felt guilt weight on his stomach, as well as pain at Chanhee's indifference. But Chanhee was already leaving the room, and then Sunwoo was alone. He sat down on the floor and tried not to cry. His head was killing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello beautiful people, I hope you've enjoyed this chapter!
> 
> Thank you sooooo much for the comments last chapter, I love reading them, and I'm happy you guys seem to be enjoying the story so far!
> 
> Also I have a twitter!!! Which I made and forgot boy lol, but if anyone wants to talk about kpop or whatever else you can follow me there, it's https://twitter.com/tinyjuji
> 
> And lastly have a good weekend, everyone!


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